JUST A THOUGHT
God wants His people to be like Him. This isn’t a surprise. Often no matter who we are, we have a desire for our family, children, friends, employees, sports players, and others to be like us. If not exactly than at least have our mindset, work ethic, and behavior. It’s why a sports team take on the persona of their coach or manager. If you have a great coach, this could lead to success and a great feeling of playing the game. However, if the coach is terrible then this will lead in the opposite direction. When it comes to children the same is true. Many parents want their children to be like them if not better. Often the parents fail to see that their personal behavior and attitude isn’t lining up to what they are teaching therefore the children might not act or behave the way the parents desire.
The Lord has a standard for His people’s behavior, disposition, and character. God’s desire is for His people to be Holy. “And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, you shall be Holy for I the Lord your God am Holy,” Leviticus 19:1-2 NKJV. The standard was so the people of Israel would then reflect this attitude to the countries surrounding them. In doing so God’s influence would travel throughout the world. The Lord does not haphazardly decree laws, He proficiently draft a blueprint to become His Holy people. One such group of laws are the Ten Commandments.
When observing Leviticus 19 there is an interesting parallel that is revealed between this chapter and the Ten Commandments. You will notice that many of the questions relate to the 20th chapter of Exodus. The ten commandments are listed in the 2nd book of the Bible and in Deuteronomy 5:1-22. Leviticus is a book of worship and ritual, for that reason, God made sure that the Ten Commandments are written in this book. There was to be no doubt, that God’s Ten Commandments where to be respected in worship. The very start of this chapter talks about taking on the character of God due to Him being Holy. This mindset is not only for the ancient Israelites but for God’s church as well.
God has a longing for His people to be Holy. In 1 Peter 1:16 it states, “For it is written, Be Holy, because I am Holy.” This statement written by one of Christ’s disciples was taken after Jesus resurrection. Meaning that the message of being Holy not only applied to the ancient Israelites but to the church of today. God set up a standard for what it means to be Holy. Look over this chapter and take heart to what it is stating. We often believe at being Holy as some abstract idea but there are some concrete means to do this. All we should do is follow the steps and laws that God set up. Then we can honestly say that we’re being Holy as God is Holy.
